When aero wheels and low spoke count wheels started to take over there was only mention of all-up weight of a wheelset. Rim weight was never mentioned. Mr. Zinn came up with a way to compare the inertia of one wheel to another: a slender, long threaded rod was attached to the ceiling, the wheel was bolted firmly to the bottom of the rod with the rod taking up the place of the axle. The wheel was rotated 90 degrees and the number of back and forth cycles was noted. Heavier rim equals more cycles.
Even time trialing at a "constant speed" a racer is trying to accelerate his bike twice with each crank revolution. Excuse me if this is obvious but no test data ever takes this into account. I ride on roads in good condition for the most part, and the only thing I have ever noticed about "bigger, faster, better rolling" tires is their increased weight.